Number of Students Taking the SAT Jumped by More Than Half, City Says

From The New York Times, by reporter Elizabeth A. Harris. Full story here.

The number of New York City public school students taking the SATs shot up last year, after the city offered the test free during the school day.

The city’s education department said that 61,800 high school juniors took the test last year, a 51 percent increase from the year before.

And:

Phil Weinberg, the deputy chancellor whom Ms. Fariña credited as the person responsible for the initiative, said the city paid about $2.2 million to make the SAT free to every student who wanted to take it — Ms. Fariña said that even some students at the Rikers Island jail complex participated last year.